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I went with a friend of mine, making sure to get there early enough to receive the foil prerelease (sword of Kaldra, which had worse artwork than the normal one IMHO). We needed to pound a few red bulls since we had been up the better part of the night studying the set. It paid off. After waiting for a short while we got our product, and I could barely contain my excitement. Among my rares were Troll Ascetic

I got. When our first pairing were posted, I played a guy who was playing blue-red-black. I got a Cub out turn three, and he was still building his mana base. I managed to swing a few times bofore he got a Silver Myr

, so I ditched the 'splitter. He got a little hosed in game 1 and I took a the win without much of a sweat. Game 2, though, gave me an important lesson: if you crack a Warhammer, play it! I managed to get the Sword of Kaldra

, this guy put the hurt out fast. Game one was tough, but I think his deck was thinner on creatures than mine, which I think was the deciding factor. We traded creatures, and I finally got the upper hand by iImprinting his Den-Guard on my Duplicant

. Downgrade, yes, but worth it. Game two he got the Den-Gauntlets combo out really early, and before I could even ask what was going on, I was at 2 life. I was able to chump block effectively with the Troll Ascetic

, but the regeneration was forcing me to keep 2 mana open. The best moment was when he cast Grab the Reigns on the Acsetic; I hated doing it, but I bolted it before GTR resolved. Still, ouch. I slowly built my creatures, and mecifully, the only other equipment he played was a Slagwurm Armor

I expected to have a tough round 4, but my opponent couldn't handle flying creatures. Seemed to be playing almost exclusively artifacts, with some green splashed. I didn't look too good early in game one, but I was glad when he deconstructed my Bonesplitter

So going into the final round, I was 4-0, with the added fun of being 8-0 in individual games. Wow. Already the best showing I've ever had. But my opponent didn't make it to round 5 for nothing. In round 4, he stomped my friend in who was also 3-0 going in. I wasn't taking any chances, so I sided in the Icy Manipulator

. For some reason, I stopped thinking and went aggressive. I swung with the Archers and the Patrol, which of course he blocked with the wall pumped for 4. With it at 4/6, I felt it would be a great time to get rid of it and punch through for 4, courtesy of my Duplicant

. The turn after that, I could almost hear the faint sound of my dead Tel-Jilad Archers saying ´´I told you so´´ right before I lost. Game two, he got mana hosed, and I rolled in for a quick win with a Bonesplitter

Let me preace the next few sentences by admonishing all readers to read their opponents' cards before making or when responsing to big plays. Especially when your opponent desparately resets the game with an Oblivion Stone

´´ action won't apply to you (s much). Artifacts are the name of the game in Mirrodin, but whitling down to only the most useful ones is going to leave a few your opponents with dead hate in their hands. Competetive events last all day; sandwiches and red bulls don't hurt (although if you mix vodka in, I've heard it can kill you), and the 5 minutes it takes to make will save you a few bucks and a huffing, sweaty run to the nearest fast food place between rounds. But most important is the lesson most players already know: If you want to win, keep your head in the game.

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